Why Guardian Heroes HD on the Xbox Live Arcade is a big deal

This is great news for existing fans of Guardian Heroes, but why should you …

Sega sent a shockwave through the world of beat-em-up fans when the company announced that not only would Guardian Heroes be getting a high-definition update, but it would be playable at E3. For those already in love with the game, this is great news. For those who never had a Sega Saturn, the appeal may not be immediately apparent. So why should you get excited?

I spoke with Racketboy, whose eponymous site is an authority on collectible and rare games. "Much like other games from Treasure, Guardian Heroes is a bit of a cult favorite. And like other games from Treasure—such as Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, etc— it did a great job of taking an established genre and adding some extra depth while also making the most of the console's technical resources." The game took the standard beat-em-up formula and added an extra layer of RPG elements, while making impressive use of the Saturn's 2D abilities. The game also placed a heavy emphasis on story, with branching paths that reward multiple playthroughs.

The graphics will be updated, and the rest of the modern features will add value. "Guardian Heroes is a wonderful party beat-em-up, so I'm glad we will have some online capabilities once it makes its way to XBLA," Racketboy said. The battle mode supports up to 12 players at once, in addition to the standard co-op.

Racketboy also pointed out that this is one of the games that came out late in the Saturn's life and although there was a "lackluster" Game Boy Advance sequel, the original has never been released in any other form. If you wanted to play, you'd have to buy a dead system and track down the expensive and somewhat rare physical release. The Xbox Live Arcade release will allow others to play a game that only a few were able to enjoy upon release. That's why we're excited: a great game will finally be available as a wide release.

Guardian Heroes HD will be an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive, with no set release date.

47 Reader Comments

This is one of my most beloved Saturn games ever, and one of the few games I have it for that got a domestic US release (the amount of godly titles that never made it to the US is a deep travesty). It's up there with Panzer Dragoon Saga and Radiant Silvergun. Hopefully they'll balance out Nicole a bit better - her "I'm Angry Now" move could absolutely devastate if you got people cornered.

If they brought in six player Xbox Live mayhem, this thing would be out of this world.

This is one of my most beloved Saturn games ever, and one of the few games I have it for that got a domestic US release (the amount of godly titles that never made it to the US is a deep travesty). It's up there with Panzer Dragoon Saga and Radiant Silvergun. Hopefully they'll balance out Nicole a bit better - her "I'm Angry Now" move could absolutely devastate if you got people cornered.

If they brought in six player Xbox Live mayhem, this thing would be out of this world.

Agreed -- a converter cartridge and access to Japanese games was heaven. Hello X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Superheroes vs. Street Fighter!

As a guy who had, and enjoyed, the Saturn version of GH, I am jealous of all those who own a 360 :/

OMG!!! This is one of my favorite games. I loved playing it on my Sega Saturn back in the day and even on Saturn emulators sometimes over the years. I hate that I don't have an Xbox 360, but maybe one day it'll come to PSN ... if Sony ever gets it back up and running that is lol.

Tower of Doom actually came first, the sequel Shadow over Mystara came out the same year as Guardian Heroes.

They're similar, and different. There's no equipment or inventory to speak of in Guardian Heroes, but you get to choose your stat distribution.

Part of the fun is the multi-player arena mode. Every enemy you defeat shows up in there as a playable character, so you could use the characters unlocked as a benchmark for which routes through the game you've missed.

"For those who never had a Sega Saturn, the appeal may not be immediately apparent. "

And for the third group (majority?) you conveniently left out ...

Those who have a Sega Saturn and never liked the game.

I assume they're either smart enough not to waste time reading about games they don't like, or aren't so self-absorbed they need to come into a story they know they're not going to like just to complain about the fun other people will have with the game.

Guardian Heroes plays and feels very different from any of those Capcom beat-em-ups with leveling, including the D&D titles. I actually enjoy GH more because of the very different feel, and I'd argue GH is really a different beast. I also think GH is simply a better game all around.

I foolishly traded away my entire Saturn collection when my console bit the dust some years back. Thanks to the likes of eBay and some local used game stores, I've steadily rebuilt my collection with a few notable exceptions. Despite the rebuild starting in 2003, I only reclaimed Guardian Heroes last summer. Incidentally, it was one of the last games I bought for my Saturn the first time around, too.

I had fun with the original and look forward to seeing this remastered version going on sale.

as a saturn owner you either liked what they gave or admitted flushed your money down the drain.they were tough times.

I actually picked up a Saturn *after* getting a PlayStation because there were so many games I wanted. Mainly Dragon Force, Saturn Bomberman, Guardian Heroes, NiGHTS, and the better versions of Capcom and SNK fighters.

The PlayStation was probably a better system overall, but the "niche" titles on the Saturn were good enough to warrant the extra purchase to me.

"For those who never had a Sega Saturn, the appeal may not be immediately apparent. "

And for the third group (majority?) you conveniently left out ...

Those who have a Sega Saturn and never liked the game.

I assume they're either smart enough not to waste time reading about games they don't like, or aren't so self-absorbed they need to come into a story they know they're not going to like just to complain about the fun other people will have with the game.

Myth: busted.

Some people just aren't happy unless they let other know that they're too cool to enjoy something that other liked.

I'm very interested in trying this game. Arcadey hack'n slash with RPG elements reminds me of the old Capcom D&D arcade games and Cadash, which are games I've loved for years.

Kinda, but with a bit of a fighting game mixed in. You can hit a button and cycle through your spells, or you can be a real man and input fighting-game style joystick combinations to cast them (this also makes you less vulnerable). You also have standard specials that aren't spells and don't use MP, but are obviously less powerful.

The leveling is interesting and gives a bit of freedom in developing your character. If you want to use Randy and max out his Int score so his spells rape the entire screen, you can (and probably should, because he's awesome), but you can also raise his strength and speed since his melee attacks are a pretty good combo based affair. Or you can raise Han's speed because his attacks are slow but powerful, so you can get more of them in.

Seriously, I love this game.. I've played it entirely too much, I'll bet, but I'll buy this as well and play the hell out of it.

"For those who never had a Sega Saturn, the appeal may not be immediately apparent. "

And for the third group (majority?) you conveniently left out ...

Those who have a Sega Saturn and never liked the game.

I assume they're either smart enough not to waste time reading about games they don't like, or aren't so self-absorbed they need to come into a story they know they're not going to like just to complain about the fun other people will have with the game.

hmmm I'll give the trial a shot but I'm getting that vibe you get when people are super hyperbolic about their favorite nostalgia filled memories of gaming and then you play it and it's some crap that's been done better several times since. "yeah dude Goldeneye is the best FPS ever, never will be topped". No. Stop telling other impressionable people that. How is it compared to say Tales of Vesperia or something

It's not just nostalgia, not for me at least. Well, ok there's a certain level of that, but beat-em-ups haven't really evolved in a long time. There's a difference comparing Goldeneye to Reach, but not so much comparing Streets of Rage to Scott Pilgrim.

That said, Guardian Heroes is still fun as hell. I load it up once a month or so and play through it on the Saturn, and I've been doing that since it came out in 96.

hmmm I'll give the trial a shot but I'm getting that vibe you get when people are super hyperbolic about their favorite nostalgia filled memories of gaming and then you play it and it's some crap that's been done better several times since. "yeah dude Goldeneye is the best FPS ever, never will be topped". No. Stop telling other impressionable people that. How is it compared to say Tales of Vesperia or something

Comparing Guardian Heroes to Tales of Vesperia is an interesting proposition. While Tales is obviously more of a jRPG, it does have beat 'em up qualities; Guardian Heroes is a beat 'em up with jRPG qualities. I find Tales to be a vastly more enjoyable game, but Tales is significantly easier, prettier, and offers more freedom in the way of combos. However, much gameplay time is spent outside of combat, which hurts its multiplayer aspect significantly. ToV also requires a much greater time commitment than GH.

They had such an amazing catalogue that hardly anyone knows about anymore. I hope they keep up with these kinds of releases

Indeed. It is a pity that they haven't been able to bring some of their great IP to other plataforms, since they quit the hardware market (I remember the great games they released for the Dreamcast, and have not seen anything as eye catching from them since its demise).

hmmm I'll give the trial a shot but I'm getting that vibe you get when people are super hyperbolic about their favorite nostalgia filled memories of gaming and then you play it and it's some crap that's been done better several times since. "yeah dude Goldeneye is the best FPS ever, never will be topped". No. Stop telling other impressionable people that. How is it compared to say Tales of Vesperia or something

A) It's the Saturn. It's full of underrated, ridiculously great titles

B) It's Treasure. They are the definition of hard core, gameplay centric developers.

C) GH takes a lot of standard beat'em up paradigms and takes them to cool places, like the control scheme, the addition of controlling what is the equivalent of an RPG pet but in much more hectic/realtime situations, a branching storyline, and characters that are highly varied.

This isn't rosy-tinted glasses material; this is people liking it because it's one of the most interesting takes on a tired genre, one that's even now not really had an equal (there are good brawlers today, but none of them have the depth of GH imo).

Never owned a Saturn and consequently this gem. I've heard really great things about it from some friends who had owned it though. I loved castle crashers and this seems like it might be something similar. Definitely gonne give this a go.

Never owned a Saturn, but my friend would visit town and brought it a few times and this game was the best thing we ever played together on it. It was a blast. It's all about the fast paced co-op and the branching choices.

Based on a single screen shot? You should actually be basing your assessment on all the people mentioning how awesome a game it was. When word of mouth is this good, it means the game is at least worth checking out. The greatness of this game is based on the gameplay, not the graphics.